Healing
by Lefting
Summary: The beginning of a Draco-after-the-war story. Not much plot yet. UNFINISHED


_Cos all of the stars are fading away__  
Just try not to worry you'll see them some day__  
Just take what you need and be on your way  
And stop crying your heart out - _Oasis

In the end, after it was all over and all the pretences were gone it came down to one thing: she could make him laugh.

Because, once Moldy Voldy had been killed and saint Potty and his cronies had disappeared off into the sunset Draco Malfoy felt like crap. Pure solid gold, diamond plated crap. And it was a feeling over the past year that'd he'd grown uncomfortably familiar with. He compared it to being friends with Pansy. You never exactly wanted it there, but once you'd had it for a week or so you knew everything about it and could come up with things that would make it go away; although never for very long.

Luckily the war made things, or rather people, like Pansy go away. In fact it got rid of all people. Which was rather disconcerting for someone who'd spent his entire life socialising. But Draco Malfoy bore it with sort-of good grace. At least until he'd achieved his Potions mastery. He completed it faster than any other student except for one Severus Snape (deceased) and Draco had quickly turned his face to the prospects such an allusive mastery should surely open up to him.

Apparently he was too much of a dark wizard.

So, after several years of grousing and doing nothing but twiddling his thumbs and finding out exactly how limited his options were, Draco found that a Medical apprenticeship was something the people allowed. So, since that involved a lot of things he was familiar with and - if he might say so himself (which he did, frequently) - that he was good at. All things considered it was very lucky he did so.

Draco found himself in a class of three other students all of whom were female and were surprised that he was not. Since it was obligatory to spend lunch with the other apprentices Draco found himself at the but of every death eater joke ever created every single day. He only thanked whatever Gods might be up there that the course was too hard for much conversation other than at lunch.

They managed to last about nine months before the first of their number disappeared, leaving howls and wet tissues in her wake. Apparently the stress was too much for the poor girl to take. Draco smirked at her absence and the other two decided that avoiding him would be the best approach. So they did.

For two whole years Draco spoke no more than a sentence or two to his fellow apprentices and wondered if somewhere along the line he'd gone mad or something equally embarrassing. The old Draco would have been in cahoots with his colleagues within days of their meeting and would probably have bedded all of them, including the weeping one who'd left, before the first year was up.

But Draco shrugged it off and continued to be disinterested in the actually very enthralling work of becoming a medi-wizard.

With only one more year left of the apprenticeship left the second of their number left, this time for personal reasons as she and her family were moving over seas. Which left two. Draco and a wide eyed, red haired girl who looked as though she was sixteen, even though Draco knew that she was older than that because she'd already graduated Hogwarts by the time she started the programme with him three years ago.

When the other, whose name Draco couldn't remember, left an awkwardness that Draco had become accustomed to over the years settled between himself and… what was her name? Whilst Draco didn't care - or, rather, was now immune to - awkward silence, whatever-her-name was clearly wasn't. Which was probably why she found it within herself to strike up conversation with Draco for the first time ever.

Well.

First she coughed.

Then she said, in a rather ominous, but oddly cheerful away, 'and then there were two.'

Draco spared her a smirk before he proceeded to ignore her as he had for the past three years.

'You're Draco Malfoy, aren't you?' the girl asked, sounding like a sixteen year old as well.

'Yes,' he replied.

'Huh,' she said next and twiddled her thumbs, determinedly not looking at him. 'My mum says you shouldn't be allowed on this course,' she said after a moment.

'Lots of people think that,' Draco responded blandly. It was true, of course. And, after many struggles with himself he had decided to take the moral high ground and ignore them.

'I don't,' the girl said. She grinned at him, the corners of her too-brown eyes crinkling in a way that seemed to suggest she grinned a lot and then she stood with her food tray and disappeared, presumably off to the bathrooms.

Draco found himself repeating her statement earlier. 'Huh.'

Classes progressed as normal, but they were starting to get more interesting. This meant that Draco actually had to talk to the other apprentice, whose name he soon learnt to be Astoria, but he found that she was older in mind than in looks.

* * *

Written: 31st October 2008  
Chances of continuation: nil

Feel free to use this piece of writing for whatever the hell you want, so long as you credit me (either this account or my main one - Calistabelle) and let me know what you do with it.

Much love,  
Cal


End file.
